OPEN BAR Cruise Review!! Fascination ~ 9/26/13

[SPKEMO]

6am huh? Sounds like your getting your money's worth.

[onegroundcafe]

I wondered what you were going to think about the piano bar guy. He was not too keen on requests and barely played piano, we stopped going after the second night and left early on the second night, a shame because we love the piano bar.

[Georgiagolfer]

After dinner we wound up having drinks at the lobby bar in the atrium before stopping into the piano bar.

 

Usually the piano bar is my jam. I enjoy the sing-alongs, and having fun with the other patrons. Unfortunately the environment in Fascination's piano bar has turned fairly hostile. Bob, the piano player, doesn't seem to take kindly to boisterous merry-makers and boozy revelers. Any time we would sing along too loudly he would either give condescending looks or stop playing altogether and make snarky comments. It seemed that he considered the lounge his personal nightly recital; not the fun filled musical extension of the comedy club that I've loved on other ships. Our time in there was brief each night. Maybe next year we'll have Brad or Milby again.

 

Same experience we had in June. Went to Piano Bar 1st night, didn't return. Worst Piano Bar atmosphere we have ever experienced.:(

[DarthGrady]

6am huh? Sounds like your getting your money's worth.

 

Indeed. ;)

 

I wondered what you were going to think about the piano bar guy. He was not too keen on requests and barely played piano, we stopped going after the second night and left early on the second night, a shame because we love the piano bar.

 

Yeah, we really just went back to mess with the guy after the first evening. I knew he couldn't stand us being in there, which only made me want to go back. :D:D

[DarthGrady]

Same experience we had in June. Went to Piano Bar 1st night, didn't return. Worst Piano Bar atmosphere we have ever experienced.:(

 

Same guy?

[Georgiagolfer]

Indeed. ;)

 

 

Yeah, we really just went back to mess with the guy after the first evening. I knew he couldn't stand us being in there, which only made me want to go back. :D:D

 

Naughty Naughty:D:cool:

[Georgiagolfer]

Same guy?

 

Yep. He was so obnoxious and full of himself.

[DarthGrady]

Yep. He was so obnoxious and full of himself.

 

My thoughts exactly, I think he needs to consider a change of venue.

[iloverags2]

Yeah, we really just went back to mess with the guy after the first evening. I knew he couldn't stand us being in there, which only made me want to go back. :D:D

 

Best part of the review!

[DarthGrady]

Our second day on board started around noon. The ship didn't arrive in Freeport until then, luckily this was about the same time we were pulling into Freeport. After lunchfast in the buffet we headed ashore and got a taxi into town. It costs five bucks per person and takes about twenty minutes.

 

We sauntered about the shopping area for a while, the locals haranguing us to buy something. We made it down for the beach, still being pestered by every person we passed to buy something, anything from them. More and more I feel that it's only worthwhile to go ashore at private islands. My friends did some gambling at the casino before we finally went back to the ship.

 

This night was the formal evening, and a great many lobsters lost their lives in the process. The food was good at dinner, although the service was slower than the first night. We again imbibed gallons of alco-beverages at the various bars and clubs. It was an early night, we were in the room by 4:30.

 

Imagination in her dry dock

 

The Pride pulled up next to us

 

The small shopping area at the cruise piers

 

Apparently Carnival is just using serving trays as plates now

 

In Freeport. Anyone up for $9 beers and $15 frozen drinks?

 

[Dare2Believe]

Hope the piano bar guy is better when I go in February!

[saltybones]

Lovin your great review! We sail her in November, please keep the great stuff coming! Thanks so MUCH!

 

Sent from my VS950 4G using Tapatalk 2

[DarthGrady]

Our third day started a little later than the previous one. We woke around 1-ish and again went to the buffet for lunch. We were already in Nassau and the gangways had been open for a while.

 

The ship had mostly emptied out which made for a great day up on the pool deck. We spent a couple of hours in the main pool having buckets of beer and Jagermeister shots brought to us. At some point we also went back to the Serenity area to use the hot tubs. It all gets a bit hazy after that.

 

I managed to get myself back to the room to get ready for dinner. This is not a easy task with a head full of Jager and beer. Weird memories of dancing in the hallway with unknown passers by. Bringing the Bluetooth speaker box was a great idea. Drunks love music and dancing badly.

 

I had a big dinner to help sop up some of the hooch, it worked a bit. I sobered up to a good solid buzz and held it there for the rest of the night. There was another stop at the piano bar and another very late night in the dance club.

 

After the club we went up to the observation deck above the bridge and climbed up the front of the ship to the sports deck. We did this last year as well, and it seemed like a fine tradition to continue. The night was rounded out with some ultra-late night pizza.

 

Tasty meatballs from the Taste Bar

 

I got a hat, a pretty nice one

 

Edited October 4, 2013 by DarthGrady

[jenms2000]

Same experience we had in June. Went to Piano Bar 1st night, didn't return. Worst Piano Bar atmosphere we have ever experienced.:(

Wonder if it was the same guy that was on there in July. I never caught his name. He told us his sad story about how he ALMOST made it on The Voice. Does that story sound familiar to anyone? Stayed in there about 20 minutes. He almost put me to sleep!

Edited October 4, 2013 by jenms2000

[Georgiagolfer]

Wonder if it was the same guy that was on there in July. I never caught his name. He told us his sad story about how he ALMOST made it on The Voice. Does that story sound familiar to anyone? Stayed in there about 20 minutes. He almost put me to sleep!

 

He didn't tell that story when we went, but could have told either before or after we went the 1st night. As we wee on the 1st week of June, probably the same man you had. All I can say is , he was awful.:(

[IPlayWithString]

Glad to see you had a good time on the Fascination. We chose the Fascination for our very first cruise this past June to dip our toes in the water, see if we liked it.

 

We LOVED the deli in the Coconut Grove dining area/resteraunt/whatever you want to call it. I think we ended up eating there nearly every single day. :)

[LandlockedCruiser01]

Great review. Brings up fun memories of my past cruise, that went to the Bahamas too. I'm sure the open bar program worked out very nicely. Looking forward to more posts.

[soccersharon]

After dinner we wound up having drinks at the lobby bar in the atrium before stopping into the piano bar.

 

Usually the piano bar is my jam. I enjoy the sing-alongs, and having fun with the other patrons. Unfortunately the environment in Fascination's piano bar has turned fairly hostile. Bob, the piano player, doesn't seem to take kindly to boisterous merry-makers and boozy revelers. Any time we would sing along too loudly he would either give condescending looks or stop playing altogether and make snarky comments. It seemed that he considered the lounge his personal nightly recital; not the fun filled musical extension of the comedy club that I've loved on other ships. Our time in there was brief each night. Maybe next year we'll have Brad or Milby again.

 

Was this Big Bob Berthalter (sp)?

 

He was on the Liberty in March 2012 and gave folks hell for talking! Really! I found him to be pretty rude...and not a very good entertainer.

 

Sent from my phone. Sorry for any typos.

[DarthGrady]

Was this Big Bob Berthalter (sp)?

 

He was on the Liberty in March 2012 and gave folks hell for talking! Really! I found him to be pretty rude...and not a very good entertainer.

 

Sent from my phone. Sorry for any typos.

 

I don't know what this guy's last name was, but that sounds like him.

[DarthGrady]

Our last day on board was spent at sea, slowing making our way back to Jaxport. After lunchfast we spent most of the afternoon hanging out in the main pool and hot tubs. I was surprised that it wasn't more crowded on a sea day.

 

That evening we had our last dinner on board and made sure to stop into the piano to say bye-bye. Thankfully the guests in the piano bar were much more friendly and fun than the player.

 

We partied in the club until the wee hours again, shutting it down for good at around 3 am. We had one last late night pizza party on the back porch before settling in for about three hours of sleep.

 

The next morning we had our one and only breakfast in the main dining room. The eggs benedict were excellent.

 

Upon returning to the room we were scolded by our room steward for having left our luggage in the room while we ate. Our floor hadn't even been called to debark yet, so I felt this was a little ridiculous. He seemed equally annoyed that the other guys in our party were still waking up and getting their stuff packed. I realize that the manpower onboard is constantly stretched thinner by Carnival's never ending cost cutting (AKA the Cahill treatment), but their frustration should not be made apparent to the guests.

 

The debarkation process took longer than normal, but I'll chalk it up to Jaxport having such limited facilities.

 

We had a great cruise with only a few minor issues. I can't wait for the booze cruise next year, my liver should be back to normal by then.

 

Ship pics:

 

The Serenity area

 

The Waterworks

 

Main pool

 

The library

 

 

[ripjerry95]

What is the open bar card ? I want that!

 

 

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[Dare2Believe]

What is the open bar card ? I want that!

 

 

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I said the same thing when I first read this thread - apparently it's not offered anymore. :(

[mj]

Thanks for sharing your review. Great review as always.

[DarthGrady]

What is the open bar card ? I want that!

 

 

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Carnival used to (and may still, I'm not sure) offer an open bar package to large groups. It had to be 30 or more cabins, and everyone had to buy it. It also had to be approved on a case by case basis, so each group wasn't guaranteed it.

 

It could also be rescinded, like in the case of an especially rowdy group that was with an Orlando based radio show. If you do some digging you can probably find one of these groups with the old package and join them. Shoot me an email, its my screen name @cox.net and I can give you some info that I can't put on CC.

 

"Cheers" is similar, but subject to the silly 15 a day cap.

 

 

Thanks for sharing your review. Great review as always.

 

No problem, I'll try and get the rest of it up today, I still have a few more pics to post up. Its just been a crazy busy week around here. ;)

[DarthGrady]

More ship pics:

 

The Spa and Gym

 

 

 

The main theater